Men's Lacrosse

Johnson, Sullivan Honored For Academics By NEILA

Both Nick Johnson and Matthew Sullivan were named Academic All-New England by the NEILA.

May 24, 2017

Newton, Mass. – Clark University seniors Nick Johnson (Amherst, Mass.) and Matt Sullivan (Brunswick, Maine) were both named to the New England Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (NEILA) Academic All-New England team it was announced on Wednesday morning.

A total of 75 lacrosse student-athletes across NCAA Divisions I, II, and III were named NEILA All-Academic, including 42 from Division III institutions. Student-athletes were nominated by their head coaches and the criteria for selection included having reached senior standing academically, a 3.0 GPA or higher, and be an impact player for his respective program.

The award for both Johnson and Sullivan come after a historic season for the lacrosse program as the two team captains led the Cougars to a school-record 13 wins, the program's first-ever postseason victory and a berth in the conference championship game.

Sullivan played in a school-record 63 contests during his standout career, is a three-time NEWMAC Academic All-Conference selection, who helped lead a defense that gave up the third fewest goals in the league this year and allowed just 8.22 goals per game and was named NEWMAC second-team all-conference in 2017.

He was the recipient of the prestigious Russ Granger Award, given to the senior male student-athlete at Clark who combines academic excellence with athletic achievement. Sullivan graduated earlier this week with the highest overall male GPA and has already been accepted into the masters of finance program in the University's School of Management.

Johnson, meanwhile, is the most decorated lacrosse player in school history. He became just the fourth student-athlete in school history to earn four NEWMAC All-Conference selections and is the program's all-time leader in points (217) and assists (122) as well as points in a season (70) and assists in a season (42).

He finished 2017 ranked second in the league in assists (33) tenth in overall points (48).

Johnson had several standout performances, including six assists in a dramatic regular season win over MIT and then dished out seven more in Senior Day win over Emerson. His best effort of the year, however, might have been the six-goal, two-assist showing in a NEWMAC Semifinal win over MIT.